The South-East Health Region is Norway's largest, and includes a total of 69,000 employees across 16 hospitals, covering the health needs of nearly 2.7 million inhabitants.

The main goal of the new clinical desktop solution is to enable easier access to data services and applications for doctors and nurses, efficient sharing of information across hospitals and to improve workflow in the organization.

A new clinical desktop solution will gather the different records in a better way, to provide better and faster access to relevant patient information. This will strengthen the basis for patient care decisions, and will be an important tool for the Oslo University Hospital, which consists of three formerly independent health enterprises which now will be integrated seamlessly.

Logica is one of the largest European-based IT and business services providers, with a leading position in Scandinavia. Its significant experience in the Public Sector includes a presence as a supplier to the health sector in several European countries. The framework agreement with the South-East Regional Health Authority represents a breakthrough for the company's position in the Norwegian health sector.

"The agreement provides us with a unique opportunity to combine Norwegian and international expertise in a project that will be of great importance to everyday lives of physicians and patients alike in Norway's largest health care region," says Tor Malmo, CEO of Logica Norway.

The portal solution to be implemented will contribute to health professionals spending more time treating patients and less time searching for patient data. Under the agreement, Logica, in cooperation with subcontractors Orion Health Ltd. and Exonor, will deliver an easy-to-use portal that will integrate existing work processes and patient data systems in the region's hospitals, initially at the Oslo University Hospital.

Ian McCrae, CEO of Orion Health, a leading New Zealand-based company delivering health IT solutions to hospitals around the world, said one of the key requirements of the regional health authority was for the new solution to be based on industry standards, providing secure and reliable access to patient data from multiple sources and supporting integration with clinical services such as radiology and laboratory orders and results.

"The concept will set a new standard in Europe for safe and efficient sharing of information in the health sector," said McCrae. "Norway is regarded as one of the leading countries in health informatics and we are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Logica, Oslo University Hospital and the regional health authority."

Orion Health™ develops easy-to-use solutions and applications displaying all patient information in one, single, unified view using the Concerto™ Clinical Portal and standards based Rhapsody™ Integration Engine technology. Orion Health is a subcontractor to Logica in the project, along with Exonor, a Norwegian consultancy specialising in IT services for the health sector.

The health region's acquisition is finalized with broad participation from all health enterprises in the region, and is based on a study conducted in connection with the establishment of the Oslo University Hospital (OUH), which consists of four health enterprises in Oslo. Sharing of information among the institutions was defined as a critical success factor for efficient operations and optimal patient care. OUH will be the first unit within the regional health authority to take advantage of the framework agreement with Logica. Work on the implementation of the clinical desktop solution will begin in January 2010.

Related news articles:

• Orion Health's Profile

About Orion Health Ltd.
Orion Health's easy-to-use solutions and applications improve patient care and clinical decision making by providing integrated health data in a single, unified view. By enhancing existing healthcare information systems, the Orion Health Rhapsody Integration Engine, Concerto Portal and workflow solutions, provide healthcare workers with easy access to patient data and trends, and reduce errors and omissions by streamlining information transfer.

Worldwide, Orion Health is implementing health information communities involving over 35 million patients with tens of thousands of active users. Orion Health's partners include leading health system integrators and IT vendors such as Accenture, Initiate, and Oracle Corporation. Orion Health has more than 1,000 clients around the world including the New Zealand Ministry of Health and Auckland District Health Board, HealthAlliance, ACT Health and New South Wales Health (Australia), Health Infoway (Canada) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More information can be found at www.orionhealth.com.

About Logica
Logica is a leading IT and business services company, employing 40,000 people. It provides business consulting, systems integration, and IT and business process outsourcing services. Logica works closely with its customers to release their potential - enabling change that increases their efficiency, accelerates growth and manages risk. It applies its deep industry knowledge, technical excellence and global delivery expertise to help its customers build leadership positions in their markets. Logica is listed on both the London Stock Exchange and Euronext (Amsterdam) (LSE: LOG; Euronext: LOG). More information is available at www.logica.com.

Logica reported revenue of £1 billion in Scandinavia in 2008 with around a quarter of its total employees in the region. It has around 800 employees in Norway.